There is a wide variety of self-locking adjustable clamps for gripping and locking onto objects within a rather wide size range. The innovations in such clamps are marked largely by improvements to the toggle mechanisms that permit the clamps to be manually adjusted to not only accommodate differently sized objects but also to lock onto the objects with varying degrees of force. Existing toggle mechanisms employ an adjustment component for use in adjusting the distance between a base and the support on which the base is mounted, so that it can clamp differently sized objects onto the support. The clamps must be pre-adjusted so that they can engage and grip an object, regardless of the size.
This required pre-adjustment of the jaws in the sequential gripping of differently sized objects is a significant deficiency in the art and it is clear that an adjustable clamp that could be employed for sequentially gripping differently sized objects with a selected gripping force without having to be sequentially pre-adjusted would mark a significant improvement over the prior art. The present invention achieves this and provides artisans with a self adjusting clamp that is easy to construct and easy to employ for sequentially gripping differently sized objects without the need for sequentially pre-adjusting the jaws.
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved self adjusting toggle clamp.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved self adjusting toggle clamp that is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved self adjusting toggle clamp that can accommodate a variety of bases for mounting in different orientations and functions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved self adjusting toggle clamp that can accommodate a variety of mounting links with different pressure feet for mounting in different orientations and functions.